A Landscape with Shepherds Resting Under a Tree by a Cascade (recto); Sketch of a Landscape (verso)

Francesco Zuccarellimid-1700s

The J. Paul Getty Museum

A large tree on the right leads the viewer's eye into this idyllic Italian landscape. The pastoral scenery is divided in half by the swiftly flowing river, which branches from a waterfall behind the grand tree. Along the banks of the river, a shepherd and two shepherdesses rest peacefully with their cattle and sheep under the shade of the tree, while several fishermen relax in the sunshine. Classical ruins flank the modern building along the distant rolling hills.

Foreign tourists traveling through Italy in the 1700s delighted in Zuccarelli's tranquil scenes, purchasing landscapes such as this to remind them of their beautiful tours. This particular sheet once belonged to the French engraver Pierre-François Basan, who admired it so much that he engraved and published it.

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Title: A Landscape with Shepherds Resting Under a Tree by a Cascade (recto); Sketch of a Landscape (verso)